UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  02243  0144 


THE  FIRST  TRUE 
G  E  NTLEMAN 

With    Foreword    b  y    . 
EDWARD  E\S  .'CTT  HALE  D.D. 


CAlkJ 


Social  Sciences  &  Humanities  Library 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 
Please  Note:  This  item  is  subject  to  recall. 

Date  Due 

JUL  1 0  1997 

RECD  AUb  i  8  199 

7 

MAY  3  0  ZUOO 

CI  39  (5/97)                                                                         UCSD  Lib. 

3  1822  02243  0144 


THE   FIRST 
TRUE   GENTLEMAN 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/firsttruegentlemOOhaleiala 


THE  FIRST 
TRUE  GENTLEMAN 

A  Study  in  the  Human 
Nature    of    Our    Lord 


With  a  Foreword  by 
Edward  Everett  Hale,  D.D. 


jt 


BOSTON 

John  W.  Luce  &  Company 

1907 


Copyright,  1907,  by 
John  W.  Luce  &  Company 
Boston,   Mass.,    U.S.A. 


The  Plimpton  Press  Norwood  Mass. 


A  FOREWORD 


*k?»  *»»  *w>  **?>  *5>>  *»>  «w>  n#»  «Mf>  *t^»  <*>-> 


J^^HE  dictionaries  and  the  stu- 
^^  dents  of  words  have  a  great 
deal  to  say, — perhaps  more  than 
is  worth  while,  —  of  the  origin  of 
the  word  Gentleman, — whether 
a  gentleman  in  England  and  a 
gentilhomme  in  France  mean 
the  same  thing,  and  so  on.  The 
really  interesting  thing  is  that  in 
a  republic  where  a  man's  a  man, 
the  gentleman  is  not  created  by 
dictionaries  or  by  laws.  You 
cannot  make  him  by  parchment. 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


As  matter  of  philology,  the 
original  gentleman  was  gentilis. 
That  is,  he  belonged  to  a  gens 
or  clan  or  family,  which  was 
established  in  Roman  history. 
He  was  somebody.  If  he  had 
been  nobody  he  would  have 
had  no  name.  Indeed,  it  is 
worth  observing  that  this  was 
the  condition  found  among  the 
islanders  of  the  South  Sea. 
Exactly  as  on  a  great  farm  the 
distinguished  sheep,  when  they 

8 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


were  sent  to  a  cattle  fair  might 
have  specific  names,  while  for 
the  great  flock  nobody  pretends 
to  name  the  individuals,  so  cer- 
tain people,  even  in  feudal  times, 
were  gentilis,  or  belonged  to  a 
gens,  while  the  great  body  of 
men  were  dignified  by  no  such 
privilege. 

The  word  gentleman,  how- 
ever, has  bravely  won  for  itself, 
as  Christian  civilisation  has  gone 
on,  a  much  nobler  meaning. 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


The  reader  of  this  little  book 
will  see  that  the  poet  Dekker, 
surrounded  by  the  gentlemen 
of  Queen  Elizabeth's  Court,  al- 
ready comprehended  the  larger 
sense  of  this  great  word.  The 
writer  of  this  essay,  taking  the 
familiar  language  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  of  England,  fol- 
lows out  in  some  of  the  great 
crises  of  the  Saviour's  life  some 
of  the  noblest  illustrations  of  the 
poet's  phrase. 

10 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


It  is  well  worth  remembering 
that  the  Received  Version  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  belongs 
to  Dekker's  own  generation, 
accepts  his  noble  use  of  lan- 
guage in  one  of  the  great  cen- 
tral passages.  In  the  very  little 
which  we  know  of  the  early 
arrangements  of  apostleship,  we 
are  given  to  understand  that  the 
Apostle  James  lived  at  Jerusa- 
lem, and  that  in  what  he  wrote 
he    addressed    the    Christians 

ii 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


of  every  race  and  habit  in  all 
parts  of  that  world  of  which 
Jerusalem  is  the  centre.  The 
Epistle  of  James  may  be  called 
the  first  encyclical  addressed  to 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men 
who  accepted  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
as  the  leader  of  their  lives. 
To  this  day  its  practical  and 
straightforward  simplicity  chal- 
lenges the  admiration  of  all  those 
believers  who  know  that  the  tree 
is  to  be  judged  by  its  fruits,  — 

12 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


that  it  is  not  enough  to  cry  "  Lord, 
Lord," — that  it  is  not  enough  to 
say,  "I  believe  in  this"  or  "I 
believe  in  that";  — but  rather 
that  the  follower  of  Christ  must 
do  what  He  says.  And  how 
does  this  gentle  apostle  of  apos- 
tles define  in  word  the  "  wisdom 
which  is  from  above?"  The 
wisdom  from  above  is  first  pure, 
as  the  Master  had  said,  "Blessed 
are  the  pure  in  heart."  Then  the 
Wisdom  from  above  is  peace- 

13 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


able,  as  the  angels  said  when 
He  was  born.  Then  the  wisdom 
from  above  is  gentle.  The  man 
who  follows  Christ  is  a  gentle 
man.  The  woman  who  follows 
Christ  is  a  gentle  woman. 

And  if  anyone  eager  for  accu- 
racy in  the  use  of  language 
choose  to  hunt  the  Greek  word 
which  we  find  in  St.  James's 
Epistle  through  the  lexicons,  he 
learns  that  the  gentleman  whom 
St.  James  knew  is  he  who  in 


14 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


dealing  with  others  "  abates 
something  from  his  absolute 
right."  He  is  so  large  and  un- 
selfish that  he  can  grant  more 
than  he  is  compelled  to  grant  by 
rigorous  justice.  He  is  the  man 
who  can  love  his  brothers  better 
than  himself.  These  are  phrases 
from  the  old  dictionaries. 

"Greater  love  hath  no  man 
than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down 
his  life  for  his  friends." 

EDWARD   E.   HALE. 

15 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


^HE  Elizabethan  poet  Dek- 
V-^  ker  said  of  our  Lord  that 
He  was  "the  first  true  gentle- 
man that  ever  breathed."  The 
passage  is  worth  quotation :  — 

"  Patience !    why,    'tis    the    soul    of 

peace, 
Of  all  the  virtues  nearest   kin   to 

Heaven. 
It  makes  men  look  like  gods,  the 

best  of  men 
That  e'er  wore  earth  about  him  was 

a  sufferer  — 

19 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


A  soft,  meek,  patient,  humble,  tran- 
quil spirit, 

The  first  true  gentleman  that  ever 
breathed." 

All  through  English  litera- 
ture the  word  "  gentleman  "  has 
had  two  meanings,  and  has 
been  used  to  describe  a  man 
of  certain  qualities  as  well  as  a 
man  of  a  certain  birth.  A  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  before  Dek- 
ker  wrote  it  was  declared  that 
"  truth,  pity,  freedom,  and  hard- 

20 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


iness  "  were  the  essential  qual- 
ities of  a  gentleman.  Our  Lord 
in  His  human  nature  personified 
these  things.  Every  gentleman 
in  Christendom  derives  his 
ideal  from  Christ  whatever 
may  be  his  dogmatic  creed.  No 
virtue,  perhaps,  was  so  charac- 
teristic of  our  Lord  as  His  de- 
votion to  truth.  He  declared 
before  Pilate  that  it  was  the 
end  for  which  He  was  born. 
He  condemned  all  those  who 

21 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


hindered  its  diffusion  and  tried 
to  make  it  the  monopoly  of  a 
caste.  He  tabooed  all  absurd 
asseverations,  the  occasional 
use  of  which  was  but  a  con- 
fession of  habitual  lying.  He 
taught  that  lies  were  of  the 
Devil,  and  that  it  was  the  Holy 
Spirit  who  led  men  into  all 
truth.  He  said  that  sincerity 
was  the  great  light  of  the 
Spirit,  that  all  double-minded 
men  were  in  the  dark,  and  that 

22 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


their  fear  of  the  light  of  day  was 
their  own  sufficient  condemna- 
tion. The  ideal  gentleman  all 
through  the  ages  has  conformed 
his  conduct  in  the  matter  of 
truth  to  the  Christian  standard. 
He  has  avoided  mental  reser- 
vation, abhorred  lying,  and, 
though  he  has  garnished  his 
speech  with  oaths,  his  yea  has 
meant  yea,  and  his  nay,  nay, 
and  he  has  regarded  his  word 
as  his  bond. 

23 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


Again,  courage  and  pity  were 
combined  in  the  character  of 
Christ  as  they  had  never  been 
combined  before.  Now  the  com- 
bination is  common  enough. 
We  have  the  seed  and  can  grow 
the  flower ;  but  every  man  who 
excels  in  both  is  in  some  sense 
a  follower  of  Christ.  The  cour- 
age of  our  Lord,  though  it  in- 
cluded physical  courage,  was 
not  of  that  calibre  which  is 
more  properly  called  animal,  — 

24 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


animal  courage  implies  a  want 
of  imagination,  and  is  probably 
incompatible  with  pity.  Christ 
in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane 
"tasted  death  for  every  man," 
and  held  out  a  hand  of  sympathy 
to  that  vast  majority  who  must 
for  ever  regard  it  with  strong 
dread.  Yet  by  His  precepts, 
by  His  life,  and  by  His  death 
He  taught  men  that  fear  can  be 
mastered,  though  it  is  a  form 
of  suffering  seldom  altogether 

25 


The  First   True  Gentleman 


spared  to  the  highest  type  of 
man. 

Apart  from  their  religious  sig- 
nificance, the  trial  and  crucifix- 
ion of  Christ  form  the  scene  in 
the  world's  history  of  which 
humanity  has  most  reason  to 
be  proud.  Christ,  in  His  hu- 
man nature,  was  a  Galilean 
peasant.  He  excused  to  his 
face  the  Roman  Governor  who 
stooped  to  threaten  a  prisoner 
in   Whom  he  found  no  fault. 

26 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


Judge  and  prisoner  changed 
places.  The  distinctions  of  the 
world  dissolved  before  the  dis- 
tinctions of  God.  At  Pilate's 
bar  all  gentlemen  recognise 
their  hero,  an  example  for 
ever  of  the  powerlessness  of 
circumstances  to  humiliate. 

On  the  Cross  not  only  did  our 
Lord  maintain  that  composure 
which  witnesses  to  the  supreme 
power  of  the  soul,  but  with  still 
balanced  judgment  He  refused 

27 


The  First  True  Gentleman 

to  impute  sin  to  the  Roman  con- 
scripts whose   orders  were  to 
crucify.     He  made  a  last  effort 
to    console    the    grief   of    His 
mother  and  His  friend,  and  set 
Himself  to  give  hope  and  en- 
couragement  to   the   suffering 
thief  who  believed  he  was  re- 
ceiving the  due  reward  of  his 
deeds.   A  genius  however  great, 
a  gentleman  however  perfect, 
could  imagine  no  story  of  cour- 
age more  noble  or  more  inspir- 

28 

The  First   True  Gentleman 


ing  than  the  one  set  down  in 
the  Gospels. 

A  new  pity  came  into  the 
world  with  Christ.  The  lump 
is  not  yet  leavened;  even  the 
white  race  is  not  yet  pitiful. 
All  the  same,  the  emotion  of 
pity  is  a  power,  and  does, 
broadly  speaking,  distinguish 
Christendom  from  the  heathen 
world.  It  is  part  of  the  ideal  of 
all  those  who  are  conscious  of 
having  an  ideal  at  all.     Gusts 

29 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


of  anger,  both  national  and  in- 
dividual, sweep  it  out  of  sight; 
it  is  paralysed  by  fear,  rendered 
blind  by  use  and  wont;  again 
and  again  its  scope  is  narrowed 
by  the  reaction  which  follows 
upon  affectations  and  exaggera- 
tions ;  but  it  is  never  killed.  It 
has  been  part  of  the  moral 
equipment  of  a  gentleman  since 
Christ  "went  about  doing  good," 
revealing  to  men  the  secret  Na- 
ture could   not  teach    them  — 

30 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


breaking,  as  it  seemed  to  them, 
the  uniformity  of  her  relentless- 
ness  —  the  secret  of  the  divine 
compassion. 

The  independence  of  mind 
and  manner  inculcated  by  our 
Lord  still  marks  a  gentleman 
to-day.  Did  He  not  teach  that 
a  man's  conduct  must  at  all 
times  be  ruled  by  his  code  and 
not  regulated  by  his  company  ? 
He  must  maintain  the  same 
attitude   towards   life  whether 

3i 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


he  find  himself  among  just  or 
unjust,  friends  or  enemies.  He 
must  not  salute  his  brethren 
only,  nor  be  only  kind  to  those 
that  love  him.  He  must  remain 
an  honest  man  among  thieves, 
ready  to  rebuke  an  offender  to 
his  face,  but  still  a  gentleman, 
who  does  not  "  revile  again  "  or 
suffer  the  passion  of  revenge 
to  destroy  his  judgment.  This 
moral  independence  is  the  rock 
on   which    character   is    built. 

32 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


The  man  whose  actions  depend 
upon  his  environment  has  but 
a  sandy  foundation  to  his  moral 
nature.  Upon  this  strong  rock 
of  moral  independence  rest  also 
the  best  manners.  Self-asser- 
tion and  self-distrust  are  singu- 
larly allied.  It  is  the  ill-assured 
who  push  in  their  ardent  desire 
to  be  like  somebody  else.  It  is 
dignity  rather  than  humility 
which  is  recommended  to  us 
in  the   parable   of   those  who 

33 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


chose  the  chief  seats  at  feasts. 
It  is  a  common  thing  to  hear  it 
said  by  simple  people  in  praise 
of  some  one  they  regard  as  pre- 
eminently a  gentleman  that  "he 
is  always  the  same."  No  doubt 
the  publicans  and  sinners  whose 
friendly  advances  Christ  ac- 
cepted without  apparent  con- 
descension said  this  of  Him. 
He  was  so  entirely  Himself 
among  them  that  the  vulgar- 
minded  Pharisees  whispered  to 

34 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


one  another  that  He  must  be 
ignorant  of  the  sort  of  company 
He  was  in,  or  surely  He  would 
make  plain  the  gulf  fixed  be- 
tween Himself  and  them.  By 
conventionality  our  Lord  seems 
never  to  have  been  bound.  On 
the  other  hand,  He  did  not  wan- 
tonly overthrow  the  conven- 
tions of  His  day.  When  a 
social  custom  struck  Him  as 
injurious,  He  told  those  who 
gave  in  to  it  that  it  stood  in  the 

35 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


way  of  better  things,  substitut- 
ing custom  for  conscience.  On 
the  other  hand,  He  fell  in  with 
the  usual  ways  of  respectable 
people  in  a  great  many  particu- 
lars, praying  in  a  village  place 
of  worship  beside  Pharisees 
who  stood  up  to  bless  them- 
selves and  publicans  who  dared 
not  so  much  as  lift  their  eyes  to 
heaven,  taking  part  in  a  service 
which  was  far  enough  removed 
from  the  sincere,  spiritual,  and 

~3<r 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


wholly  unsuperstitious  worship 
to  which  He  looked  forward  as 
He  talked  beside  the  well. 

Christ  had  a  horror  of  tyr- 
anny in  every  form,  and  He 
seems  to  have  regarded  it  as  a 
peculiarly  heathen  vice.  "  The 
kings  of  the  Gentiles  exercise 
lordship  over  them,"  He  said. 
Some  bold  translators  empha- 
sise His  meaning  by  saying 
"lord  it"  over  them.  Dekker 
was  right.    A  true  gentleman 

37 


' 

The  First  True  Gentleman 

is    not    harsh,    implacable,    or 
capricious.     The    breaking    of 
other  men's  wills  gives  him  no 
pleasure.  Christ's  followers,  He 
said,  must  avoid  all  selfish  wish 
for  ascendency.     A   ruler,   He 
said,  should  regard  himself  as 
the  servant  of  all.     Where  rul- 
ing is  concerned  the  counsels 
of  Christ  seem,  like  all  His  most 
characteristic  utterances,  to  be 
calculated  rather  to  inspire  as- 
piration in  the  minds  of  good 

38 

• 

The  First  True  Gentleman 


men  than  definitely  to  regulate 
their  action,  for  in  more  than 
one  of  the  parables  His  words 
imply  that  an  ambition  to  rule 
is  a  lawful  ambition,  and  that 
increased  responsibility  may  be 
looked  to  as  a  reward. 

Theoretically  the  Christian 
attitude  towards  power  has  al- 
ways been  the  gentlemanlike 
attitude.  Hall,  the  chronicler, 
writing  in  1548,  says  in  the 
"Chronicles    of    Henry    VI." : 

39 


The  First  True  Gentleman 

"In  this  matter  Lord  Clyfford 
was   accounted   a   tyrant,   and 
no   gentleman." 

It  is  commonly  said  to-day 
that  Christianity  has  never  been 
tried.  Such  a  j  udgment  is  super- 
ficial in  the  extreme.  The  moral 
teaching    of  Christ  has   never 
been  entirely  carried  out  by  any 
community  nor  perhaps  by  any 
man,  but  to  speak  as  though  it 
had  no  great  influence  is  sheer 
affectation.     The  white  people 

40 

i  The  First  True  Gentleman 


have  wasted,  it  is  true,  their  time 
and  their  blood  in  quarrelling 
about  dogma;  but  every  Chris- 
tian sect  has  recognised  in  the 
divine  character  of  the  Naza- 
rene  Carpenter  who  suffered 
upon  the  Cross  the  perfect- 
ibility of  the  human  race, 
and  in  their  highest  moments 
of  aspiration  and  repentance 
peoples  and  rulers  alike  have 
pleaded  His  merits  before  God. 
Nothing    but    this   recognition 

4i 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


could  have  curbed  the  cruel 
pride  of  the  ancient  world, 
have  undermined  the  barriers 
of  race  and  caste  with  a  sense 
of  human  brotherhood,  have 
cast  at  least  a  suspicion  upon 
the  theory  that  might  is  right, 
and  made  respect  for  women  a 
necessary  part  of  every  good 
man's  creed.  Entirely  apart 
from  what  is  usually  called 
religion  in  England  to-day, 
"  truth,  pity,  freedom,  and  hard- 

42 


The  First  True  Gentleman 


iness  "  are  the  ideals  of  the  race 
because  nineteen  hundred  years 
ago  Christ  was  born  in  the 
stable  of  a  Jewish  inn. 


43 


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